A:
There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable
and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You
can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green
Guru's secret identity.

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Monday - July 08, 2013

QUESTION:

Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
We live in Denton Texas & our backyard is being taken over by a very woody type weed or bush. The most distinguishing characteristic is that long thin vertical ridges or fins grow along the branches. This plant spreads like wildfire & completely took over one side of our yard & I'm afraid we will have no yard left soon. It doesn't pull out of the ground like most weeks, has no seeds or berries, just skinny flat leaves & grows to about 3 feet tall. Thx! We want to figure out how to prevent it from being in our yard at all.

The fact that your plants may be all connected is going to make them a bit more difficult to eradicate. To be rid of them you will need to dig them up. To help you get rid of them, you can carefully treat the broken or cut remaining roots with herbicide by painting the surface of the cut using a small foam paint brush. If you do use herbicide, be sure you read and follow the safety instructions on the label and be careful not get any of the herbicide on plants you want to keep.

For another possibility, there is an Asian plant, Euonymus alatus (winged burning bush), that is considered invasive over much of eastern North America. The Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States shows that it has been reported in southern Oklahoma, but not in Texas.

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